His whole life he has been trying to preserve the family mill which had been taken over by the communists who had turned it into a ruin
Stáhnout obrázek
Jaromír Moravec was born on 24 July 1955 in Polička. For several generations his family had been operating a mill in the village of Bystré u Poličky. In 1950, the mill had been taken over by the newly established communist state and had been serving as a depot where cattle fodder was being prepared. As a former owner his father had been hired by the coop as a regular employee. The family had been allowed to use the habitable part of the mill. In 1959, both their land and forest had been nationalised by the Communist government. Jaromír Moravec trained as an auto mechanic. Above all, he took an interest in the Czech tramping movement, an activity that offered him a temporary refuge from life in an unfree society. In the early 80s, huge amounts of salt had been processed at the mill which resulted in a gradual corrosion of the machinery. Jaromír kept trying to save the family mill from being totally devastated. During the Velvet Revolution he joined the Civic Forum branch in Bystré, later joining the Civic Democratic Party. He fought for years to get back his family possessions. In 2020 he had been living in the restored building of the mill that his family managed to get back.
